Impeachment advances on Marcos’ cue — Escudero
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has not given any sign that he intends to call for a special session of Congress to tackle Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Sunday.
The Senate President noted that neither the proponents or opponents of Duterte’s ouster had contacted him about starting the impeachment trial, so he set the issue aside while both chambers of the legislature are on break.
“There has been none. But, of course, if the President calls for one [special session], what can we do? We will have to attend,” he said in Filipino over Super Radyo dzBB.
Mr. Marcos has expressed willingness to call for a special session on the Vice President’s impeachment case if the Senate requests it.
“If the senators ask for this, yes [he would call for a special session]. Again, they will decide. We did not decide this,” the President said in a Palace briefing on Thursday.
Escudero previously said there was no legal basis for a special session, which can be called to pass urgent legislation but not for an impeachment trial.
For former Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, “as long as there is a will,” the Upper Chamber can convene and hold a special session to try Duterte even if Congress is in recess.
He pointed out that it is up to the President to take the initiative by first calling for a special session.
“It can be done, he [President] can tell them [lawmakers], ‘Okay I will give you 25 days to convene a special session.’ It’s easy to amend the General Appropriations Act to finance an extra 20 to 24 days [of Congress being in session]. It can be done in as short as 20 days… so they can now convene an impeachment court because there is a session. That’s one way to do it,” Carpio explained in a mixture of Filipino and English.
Meanwhile, Congress is left with no other choice but to impeach Duterte, he emphasized, Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor on Sunday.
He emphasized that Duterte’s remarks on assassinating Mr. Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez is a serious crime that poses a direct threat to national security.
“Hiring or even suggesting the hiring of an assassin is not just reckless rhetoric. It is a high crime that threatens the very foundations of our Republic,” Defensor said.
“It is an attack not just on the individuals named but on the institutions they represent, especially the Office of the President, which is at the core of our government and national security framework,” he added.
Defensor is one of the prosecutors in the impeachment of Duterte.
As this developed, the University of the Philippines College of Law has launched a primer on the impeachment process to provide the media, the public, and officials with basic information on impeachment proceedings.
The institution launched the document following the Vice President’s impeachment by the House of Representatives last week to further UP’s public service orientation.
“We live in a world where disinformation even on the most basic things is rampant and taken advantage of. Regardless of where people stand, the current impeachment saga raises fair questions about corruption, abuse of power, and what it means to be a democracy with accountability,” Asst. Prof. Paolo Tamase said.